フクロウ科fukurō ka

올빼미과olppaemi-gwa

Họ Cú mèo

Уулийнханuuliŋkhaŋ

General

Information is from dictionaries and other sources. Pinyin reflects Mandarin pronunciation; for some dialect names, it is no more than a polite fiction. Korean glosses are tentative. Comments and corrections welcome. Hover over Green LetteringGreen lettering at this site hides a tool tip with glosses, further explanations, etc. Hover cursor to reveal. to see additional information.

The ordinary popular name for owls of all sorts, especially owls with 'ears', is 猫头鹰māo-tóu-yīng'cat-headed hawk'. There is also a dialect term 夜猫子yè-māozi or 'night-cat'.

In formal or scientific contexts, it is normal to use more literary terms for the owls. These include 鸱枭chī-xiāo and 鸱鸮chī-xiāo as a general term for the owls and 鸺鹠xiū-liú as a term for owlets. The owls are also called 鸱鸺chīxiū. The term 鸮鸟xiāo-niǎo'owl-bird' is another (dated) name for the owls.

These terms have interesting backgrounds. 鸱chī on its own traditionally referred to sparrow hawks. 鸮xiāo and 枭xiāo both referred to owls, often with an unfavourable meaning. 枭xiāo were reputed to be evil birds that ate their own mothers, and the character 枭xiāo is used in Chinese in a number of expressions related to ferocity and bravery. 鸱鸮chī-xiāo or 鸱枭chī-xiāo were also reputed to be evil birds.

In the ornithological naming of the Strigidae, the literary word 鸮xiāo is used for almost all owls, regularised as follows:

鹫鱼鸮(鷲魚鴞)jiù yú-xiāo'eagle fish-owl' (鹫/鷲 is traditionally used for both eagles and vultures)角鸱(角鴟)jiǎo-chī'horned-owl'(FS)怪鸱(怪鴟)guài-chī'strange-owl'(FS)老兔(老兔)lǎo-tù'old rabbit'(FS)恨狐(恨狐)hèn hú'hate fox'(FS)鹫兔鸟(鷲兔鳥)jiù-tù-niǎo'eagle rabbit' (鹫/鷲 is traditionally used for both eagles and vultures)鹫兔(鷲兔)jiù-tù'eagle rabbit' (鹫/鷲 is traditionally used for both eagles and vultures)(FS)

Харсуунkharsuuŋ or харсунkharsuŋ is found in the names of birds at the Accipitridae, Strigidae, and Sylviidae. The dictionary meaning is 'coarse', 'crude' (e.g. as used of foodstuffs), but in bird naming it appears to have the meaning 'hawk'.